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A couple of days a week I work from home for at least part of the day. One of the benefits of this is that I get to put a loaf of bread in the oven since it takes very little prep time … you just need to be around the house. I have to seriously ration this to make sure I don’t eat the whole thing in one sitting! Plain, with a bit of butter, covered with sandwich toppings … oh man, it’s amazing. You will probably want an stand mixer with a dough hook since it is a fairly wet dough. The more often I make it the easier it is!

Sweet Potato Rye Bread

300g peeled sweet potatoes, cut in chunks for boiling

2 tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp fine sea salt

200g strong white flour (bread flour)

100g dark rye wholemeal flour

Cover sweet potatoes with water, bring to a boil and lower to a simmer until they are soft enough to make mashed potatoes from them.

Set aside 75 ml of potato water and drain the rest of it. Put the potatoes back in the pot and return to a low heat for 1-2 minutes so they can dry out a bit.

When the 75 ml of potato water is lukewarm, stir in yeast and sugar.

Mash the potatoes with oil and salt. Mix into the yeast mixture.

Whisk the flour together in standing mixer bowl until well combined. Add in the wet ingredients. Mix with a dough hook on low until combined. Increase speed to med-high for 10 min or until dough is done. It should stretch a couple of inches without breaking. You might need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on the counter, flip the dough onto it and form into a ball. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with cling film (plastic wrap) and a tea towel. Put it in a warm place and let rise at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 22o C. I bake my bread on a pizza stone and so pit it in the oven at this time. Evenly flour a tea towel and place flour side up in a bread tin. Punch down the dough and turn it out a bit of flour and shape into a loaf. I like the tutorials from Northwest Sourdough. Place smooth side down on the tea towel in the bread tin. Let rise for 30 min while oven is heating.

Turn bread onto the pizza stone. If you are using a baking sheet, lightly oil before turning the bread onto it. Run a knife down the centre to make a shallow cut and place in the oven. I like to add a bit of moisture at this stage to help form a crust. This can be done by pouring boiling water into a pan that has been heating in the oven or using a spray bottle and spritzing water in.

Bake for 20-30 min. You will know it is done when you turn the loaf over, knock on the bottom and it sounds hollow. When done, turn out onto a rack to cool before slicing into it.

People often ask me what foods I miss from Canada when they plan on visiting. What can they bring me? There aren’t too many things. Cheap syrup for pancakes and chocolate chips are usually the only things I think of. It isn’t until autumn that I also remember tinned pumpkin. I have tried baking using fresh pumpkin puree that I have made from local produce but nothing seems to work like that processed orange goo in a tin. I grabbed a couple tins when I was recently in the States and made one of my favourite seasonal muffins – those beautiful pumpkin Rolo muffins. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Rolo Muffins

Makes 12

Rolos

1 Egg

⅓ c. Canola oil

½ c. Brown sugar

¼ c. White sugar

1 c. Pumpkin

1 ½ c. Flour

1 tsp. Cinnamon

½ tsp. Ginger

½ tsp. Allspice (or cloves)

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. Baking powder

1 tsp. Baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
In one bowl beat mix egg, oil, sugar and pumpkin.
In second bowl mix all the other ingredients except the Rolos.
Combine wet and dry ingredients. Don’t over mix. Fill muffin cups to 3/4 full. Firmly place one Rolo on the top of each.
Bake for 18 minutes.

Don’t look – bran muffins are not that pretty!! They are brown. Not even a nice brown. They don’t have anything about them that makes them look even remotely appealing. Let’s not even get started on the name “bran muffin” … it conjures up images of being force fed cardboard or something else that totally lacks flavour.

Although these aren’t much to look at, they are actually pretty incredible. Even kids might like them. This is one of those recipes that my mom got from someone, who probably got it from someone else, and so on. They are light and moist, melt in your mouth, incredibly good for you and can be made on demand for a few weeks straight. As well as being great to just make for yourself, these are also good to put together and give to friends that are busy or exhausted (i.e. just had a baby). You can keep the batter in the fridge and pop a few in the oven whenever you want some.

Bran Muffins

Makes approx. 4 dozen … a good Mennonite sort of recipe. I usually just make half a recipe.

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 litre buttermilk

3 Tbsp. baking soda

1 Tbsp. salt

4 eggs, beaten

4 cups branflakes (cereal)

2 cups bran

2 cups boiling water

5 cups flour

2 cups raisins

Soak branflakes and bran in boiling water while mixing other ingredients. Then mix everything together really well. Let sit for 12 hours in fridge before baking. Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full (no more). Bake as few or as many as you would like at 350F (180C) for 20 min. The batter will keep in the fridge for 6 weeks uncooked … at least that’s what the recipe I inherited says!

Yesterday I showed up in Santry Community Garden all ready to put a good bit of work in. I haven’t been there for this season yet so wasn’t quite expecting the job I was asked to do – harvest the strawberries. Not a bad job!! After a couple of hours lifting leaves and removing those red morsels of goodness I was amazed to realise that this was not the end of the crop! They seemed to be ripening behind me. We shared them at the end of the day and I grabbed a few stalks of rhubarb as well. Soon I was off home to make some jam.

I know some people like their strawberries alone in a jam but I found that adding a bit of rhubarb and ginger to the mix makes the strawberries have this je ne sais quoi quality about them. If you are up to your eyes in strawberries, why not give a bit of jam a go?

Strawberry Rhubarb Ginger Jam

Makes approx. 1.5 litres

750 g strawberries, cut if they are larger

250 g rhubarb, cut into 1 cm slices

750 g jam sugar (sugar with pectin added … not sure how much pectin if you add it separately)

Place a small plate in the freezer. Put all ingredients into a large pot, mix and let sit for 1/2 hour. Meanwhile, wash jam jars and lids with hot soapy water. Place the jars in the oven with open ends up and not touching each other. Turn the oven on to 100C. Place the lids with seals up in a pot and cover with boiling water.

Put the pot of fruit over a medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved and the fruit is softening, stirring occasionally, approximately 10 minutes. Do not boil during this stage. Turn the heat up and bring to a rolling boil (the top will keep boiling away even if you are stirring it). Keep at a rolling boil for 10 minutes (start simmering the lids). If you would like more lumps of fruit then just stir occasionally. Otherwise, feel free to crush fruit against the side or bottom while boiling. Take the plate out of the freezer and put a teaspoon of jam onto it. Leave for 10 seconds. Using your finger, push against the jam. If it wrinkles or is the consistency of jam you like then the jam is ready. If you want it thicker then leave it boiling for anther two minutes then check again.

Carefully take the jars out of the oven and place on a thick tea towel (to prevent them from breaking). Spoon the jam into each jar, leaving about 1/2 inch room at the top. If you drip jam on the top of the jar, use a damp cloth and clean it. Put the lids on and tighten to fingertip tight. Leave until cool. The tops of the lids should dimple down if the seal has worked. If they don’t seal then you will need to keep it in the fridge or freezer. If they seal properly you can store them on the shelf.

It’s strawberry season! And I have just found where I can get 1kg of those beautiful red berries for 5 euro at a Keelings farm shop just north of my place. Strawberry cupcakes with cream has become a favourite over the years. Believe it or not, I’m not really a sweets person so I really like the more delicate, fresh sweetness of these. This week I made them for the last day of one of the sewing classes I teach as a “thank you for taking a chance on me.” I am incredibly appreciative of people who let me try something new with them. This class took that chance and excelled in so many ways. If you have someone to thank and have access to strawberries, I’d recommend these!

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

(makes approximately 16)

Preheat oven to 175C.

80 g butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

salt

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup chopped strawberries

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in flour, baking powder, salt and milk. With a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the strawberries. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 18 minutes or until done (lightly press on the top and if it springs back it is done). Let cool completely before topping with cream.

Cream

1 cup fresh cream (whipping cream)

2 tablespoons icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Beat together just until it holds its shape (stiff peaks). Be careful to not over beat though. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

This past month my mom and dad came to visit! It was the perfect excuse to go exploring around the country a bit when the time allowed. As well as some favourite places of mine we also got to explore some new areas together. On the day we were headed down to Glendalough (been there maybe 100 times already!) we stopped off at Avoca in Kilmacanogue for a quick lunch. Knowing that we would likely be eating out a lot more than I am used to over the coming weeks, I decided on something that looked far more healthy – the superfood wrap. I couldn’t even tell you what was all in it! This week I was getting ready to meet a friend for a catch up after work. I thought that a small picnic might be nice while going around Phoenix Park on a rented tandem bicycle. I began to crave the superfood wrap so decided that would make a great small meal on the go. Although I know I didn’t include everything that was in the wrap at Avoca, I was still pretty impressed with how it turned out. If you’re in need of a healthy wrap filler you can keep in the fridge for a few days, this is it!

Here is what I put in:

Red Cabbage

Red Pepper

Carrot

Beetroot

Strawberries

Pumpkin Seeds

Linseed (Flax)

Mixed Nuts (roughly chopped)

Homemade dressing (2 parts olive oil, 1 part vinegar, bit of sugar)

I topped it off with a bit of Lidl Greek style salad cheese and wrapped it up. Absolutely amazing! I’m pretty sure that was the last healthy food while eating out with my parents! I had a lot of chips after that.

The cupboards are empty and the Christmas budget was also January’s budget? Need some extra vitamin rich fluids? Fasting on from solids? Cold and flu symptoms commandeering all normal functions? Time for a simple soup. This is definitely a go-to for me!

Roasted Carrot Soup

1 kg carrots, peeled, cut into small pieces (no bigger than 1 inch)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 litre vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place the carrots on a rimmed baking sheet. Melt the butter and coat the carrots. Roast until the carrots are soft and just beginning to brown, about 25 minutes(ish). Bring the vegetable broth to a simmer and add the carrots. Simmer together about 10 min. Let cool a little then blend until it is really smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. On weeks like this I leave out the spice and just enjoy the soup on its own.

Dukkah Spice

1/2 cup unsalted, shelled raw natural pistachios

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt

Toast pistachios in a dry pan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a small plate and let cool. Add sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and peppercorns to same skillet. Toast, stirring often, until it smells really nice, 1-2 minutes. Transfer spices to plate with nuts and let cool. Transfer nut and spice mixture and 1 teaspoon salt to a food processor. This can be made ahead of time. I keep leftovers in the freezer for the next time!

Top each steaming bowl with dukkah spice and a large spoonful of Greek yoghurt.